This volume synthesizes and analyzes thirty years of hydrological research in the Danum Valley Conservation Area, a lowland dipterocarp rainforest in Sabah, Malaysia. Ian Douglas explores the role of water in the rainforest ecosystem, setting out the ecological, climatological and geological context of present-day hydrological processes, soil erosion and stream sedimentation. He emphasizes the role of extreme events and natural disturbances in sediment supplies and the evolution of drainage pathways and explains the pathways of rainfall and stream sediment. Douglas then explores the impacts caused by logging, the extreme pulses of sedimentation and the effects of log removal and logging road construction, examining the effects of major storms in the 20 years after tree harvesting. Methods of minimizing logging damage to soils and streams are discussed and the effects on flora and fauns are considered.
Table of Content
Chapter. 1.- Long-term hydrological research in the humid tropics.- Chapter. 2.- The forests of the Danum Valley Conservation Area.- Chapter. 3.- The Danum hydrology project: origins, aims, context.- Chapter. 4.- The regional physiographical and land management context of the hydrology of Danum Valley.- Chapter. 5.- Rainfall and its interception by the forest.- Chapter. 6.- Overland flow.- Chapter. 7.- Infiltration, soil water and pipeflow.- Chapter. 8.- Origins of stream flow.- Chapter. 9.- Sediment supply and movement on slopes.- Chapter. 10.- Water, sediment and solutes in channels.- Chapter. 11.- Periodicity of Processes (Impact of extreme events: floods and drought).- Chapter. 12.- The lessons from the natural forest.- Chapter. 13.- The disturbance caused by logging.- Chapter. 14.- Impact of logging on interception and soil water.- Chapter. 15.- Changes to erosion rates and sediment yields during and afterlogging.- Chapter. 16.- Logging, stream flow, stream chemistry and sediment transport.- Chapter. 17.- Extreme events and the dynamics of logged catchments.- Chapter. 18.- Conclusions on the impacts of logging at Danum.- Chapter. 19.- Mitigating the effects of logging.- Chapter. 20.- The significance of hydrological and geomorphological processes for lowland tropical rainforest ecology.- Chapter. 21.- Conclusions from the Long-Term Ecological Research on hydrology at Danum.
About the author
Ian Douglas is Emeritus Professor at The University of Manchester’s School of Environment, Education, and Development. He has nearly 50 years of forest research experience in Australia and SE Asia. He is Past-President of the Society for Human Ecology, Past-Chairman of the UK Urban Ecology Forum; Fellow of the British Society for Geomorphology, and Past-President and holder of the International Medal of the Institute of Australian Geographers.
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